White House, Justice Department officials discussed Mueller report ahead of release - NYT

[webfact]

White House, Justice Department officials discussed Mueller report ahead of release - NYT

By David Morgan and Sarah N. Lynch

 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller arrives at his office in Washington, U.S., April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House lawyers held talks with U.S. Justice Department officials in recent days about the conclusions in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, aiding them in preparing for its release, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

 

The release on Thursday of the report, albeit with passages blacked out, into the investigation of suspected Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election will be a milestone in Donald Trump's tumultuous presidency.

 

Democrats reacted angrily to news that White House and Justice Department lawyers had conferred ahead of its release, and complained about Attorney General William Barr's plans to hold a news conference to discuss the report more than an hour before Congress or the public gets a chance to see it.

 

Barr will speak to reporters at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT)along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel in May 2017. But copies of the report will not be delivered to Capitol Hill until between 11 a.m. and noon (1500-1600 GMT), a senior Justice Department official said.

 

Democrats said Barr, a Trump appointee, would be trying to shape the public's views of the report during his news conference before anyone had a chance to draw their own conclusions.

 

"The attorney general appears to be waging a media campaign on behalf of President Trump," U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler told reporters in New York on Wednesday night.

 

"Rather than letting the facts of the report speak for themselves, the attorney general has taken unprecedented steps to spin Mueller's nearly two-year investigation," Nadler said.

 

Nadler and four other House committee chairs issued a joint statement demanding that Barr cancel his news conference, calling it inappropriate.

 

The New York Times, which cited people with knowledge of the discussions, said the conversations had helped the president's legal team prepare for the release of the report and strategise for the public relations and political battles that are certain to follow.

 

The Justice Department declined to comment on the New York Times report. Trump lawyers Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

When Mueller's report is released, close attention will be given not only to potential new details on the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia and the question of whether the Republican president acted to impede the inquiry, but also on how much Barr elects to withhold.

 

Moscow denies meddling in the election and Trump calls the Mueller investigation a political witch hunt.

 

SUBPOENAS

Barr is expected to release a redacted version of the report, but congressional Democrats could move forward quickly - as early as Monday - with subpoenas to obtain the full version.

 

The Democratic-led Judiciary Committee voted on April 3 to authorize Nadler to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department to obtain Mueller's unredacted report and all underlying evidence, as well as documents and testimony from five former Trump aides.

 

A source familiar with the matter said Nadler could issue subpoenas as early as Monday. Nadler told reporters in New York the committee would have to carefully read the report "but on the assumption that it is heavily redacted, we will most certainly issue the subpoenas in very short order."

 

The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Wednesday that the report would be "lightly" redacted and offer a detailed look at the ways Trump was suspected of obstructing justice.

 

It will offer a blow-by-blow of his alleged conduct — analysing tweets, private threats and other episodes at the centre of Mueller’s inquiry, the Post reported. It will also reveal that Mueller decided he could not come to a conclusion on the issue of obstruction because it was difficult to determine Trump's intent and some actions could be interpreted innocently.

 

Barr, who has broad authority to decide how much of the report to release, has promised to be as transparent as possible, but told lawmakers he would redact four categories of content: secret grand jury information, intelligence-gathering sources and methods, information relating to active cases and information could affect the privacy of "peripheral third parties" who were not charged.

 

Certain members of Congress will be able to see a less-redacted version of the report, Jessie Liu, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a court filing on Wednesday.

 

"The Justice Department plans to make available for review by a limited number of members of Congress and their staff a copy of the special counsel’s report without certain redactions," Liu said.

 

"The Justice Department intends to secure this version of the report in an appropriate setting that will be accessible to a limited number of members of Congress and their staff," she said.

 

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY

Barr is expected to testify on the Mueller report before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1 and the House Judiciary Committee on May 2.

 

The redactions, to be colour coded to reflect the reason they were omitted from the final report, have Democrats seeing red. They have expressed concern that Barr, appointed by Trump after the president fired former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, could black out material to protect the president.

 

Mueller on March 22 submitted to Barr a nearly 400-page report on his 22-month investigation into whether the Trump campaign worked with Moscow to sway the election in his favour, and whether Trump committed obstruction of justice with actions to impede the inquiry.

 

In a letter to lawmakers two days later, Barr said Mueller did not find that members of Trump's campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia.

 

Barr said he determined there was not enough evidence to establish that Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice, though Mueller did not exonerate Trump on obstruction.

 

Since then, Trump has set his sights on the FBI, and accused the Justice Department of improperly targeting his campaign. Last week, Barr told a U.S. Senate panel he believed "spying" did occur on Trump's campaign, and he plans to investigate whether it was properly authorized.

 

(Reporting by David Morgan and Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Doina Chiacu and John Whitesides; editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-18

[Chomper Higgot]

Well that closes any argument on who Barr thinks he's working for. 

[lannarebirth]

This was reported weeks ago when Mueller's report was completed. Barr wanted to know if the Administration would be claiming any "Executive Privilege" in redacting certain parts of the report, which I believe he said that they would not be doing so.

[mikebike]

35 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

This was reported weeks ago when Mueller's report was completed. Barr wanted to know if the Administration would be claiming any "Executive Privilege" in redacting certain parts of the report, which I believe he said that they would not be doing so.

It seems this report is on more recent communication than the one reported on earlier.

[Puchaiyank]

A never ending political soap-opera.  I would love to see the logic behind the "obstruction" claim as there was no crime to obstruct...and in plain view of HRC debacle...????

[Baerboxer]

 

The NYT - you can believe every word they print; totally unbiased................... if you're daft enough!

 

Or recognize them as the propaganda rag they are.

 

How the democrats squeal when they can't have their own way and when investigations don't support their wild fantasies. 

[elmrfudd]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Well that closes any argument on who Barr thinks he's working for. 

the AG ALWAYS works for the POTUS

 

would it be better if he said he was his wingman like Eric Holder?

 

no hypocrisy here

[Ulic]

400 pages, too much for me. I will wait for the unredacted report and then read the sections that were redacted. 

[elmrfudd]

the lefties will bark and howl at anything to try in vain to get the POTUS out of office.

 

the team of heavily biased lawyers assembled have surely let their opinions taint the observations

[farcanell]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

White House lawyers held talks with U.S. Justice Department officials in recent days about the conclusions in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, aiding them in preparing for its release, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Collusion

[farcanell]

7 minutes ago, elmrfudd said:

the lefties will bark and howl at anything to try in vain to get the POTUS out of office.

 

One would think simple transparency would short circuit that barking and howling.... one could also be excused for thinking that simple transparency would be welcomed (if not demanded) by the American people’s, be they liberal or otherwise tainted.

[elmrfudd]

25 minutes ago, farcanell said:

6 hours ago, webfact said:

White House lawyers held talks with U.S. Justice Department officials in recent days about the conclusions in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, aiding them in preparing for its release, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Collusion

weak feckless nonsense

[elmrfudd]

23 minutes ago, farcanell said:

One would think simple transparency would short circuit that barking and howling.... one could also be excused for thinking that simple transparency would be welcomed (if not demanded) by the American people’s, be they liberal or otherwise tainted.

transparency, like releasing all the FOIA requests that the State dept and DOJ have refused ?

 

3 years of media hyped unfounded accusations and claims fueled by the DNC machine, where's the transparency in that?

[farcanell]

43 minutes ago, elmrfudd said:

transparency, like releasing all the FOIA requests that the State dept and DOJ have refused ?

 

3 years of media hyped unfounded accusations and claims fueled by the DNC machine, where's the transparency in that?

Transparency in releasing the report to lawmakers..... and until then, calling the accusations and claims “unfounded” is unfounded

 

if you can’t release a report to lawmakers, how can lawmakers do their job?

 

if you can’t release reports to oversight committees , in charge of governmental oversight, how can those charged with oversight, do their job?

 

why is the GOP so worried about transparency? Fully democratic countries rely on transparency.... or at least on more transparency than seems to be required by the partial democracy that is the US state.... are the US people’s so afraid of democracy and the benefits of democracy?

[TPI]

2 hours ago, farcanell said:

Collusion

To what crime? The AG spoke to his boss...that's what he's supposed to do!

[TPI]

57 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Transparency in releasing the report to lawmakers..... and until then, calling the accusations and claims “unfounded” is unfounded

 

if you can’t release a report to lawmakers, how can lawmakers do their job?

 

if you can’t release reports to oversight committees , in charge of governmental oversight, how can those charged with oversight, do their job?

 

why is the GOP so worried about transparency? Fully democratic countries rely on transparency.... or at least on more transparency than seems to be required by the partial democracy that is the US state.... are the US people’s so afraid of democracy and the benefits of democracy?

The AG said that he would only redact those items that he is required to do by law, like every other similar report that has been made to Congress, What, for you to be satisfied you would like the AG to break the law???

[bumofdabeach]

To what crime? The AG spoke to his boss...that's what he's supposed to do!

He's not his boss nor is Barr his personal attorney he is supposed to be the people's representative. Three branches of government separate but equal. Executive, legislative and judicial.

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[farcanell]

12 minutes ago, TPI said:

To what crime? The AG spoke to his boss...that's what he's supposed to do!

Collusion does not have to be criminal..... but.... cooperation to deceive is collusion, like it or not.... If the co operation with A45 (person one) and Barr misleads the public.... collusion.

[farcanell]

14 minutes ago, TPI said:

The AG said that he would only redact those items that he is required to do by law, like every other similar report that has been made to Congress, What, for you to be satisfied you would like the AG to break the law???

The AG is using his discretion.... and colluding with White House lawyers in determining redactions. From my perspective, what would satisfy, is releasing the document to the proper oversight committees..... if you don’t trust the nation’s law makers, then you need new lawmakers. 

 

You remember that wee old scrap of paper called the constitution... it charges congress with oversight.... if not new lawmakers, then perhaps a new constitution, more in line with swamp life, is needed

[isaanjohnno]

I am just waiting for the false flag event or invasion to detract the low IQ from reality

[Nyezhov]

Just another straw shower with the TDS crowd grasping at them.

 

This is getting so tiresome. There are bridges that need to be rebuilt, a border than needs to be closed and homeless folks ruining Democratic party governed cities. Time to focus on important stuff.

[farcanell]

25 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Just another straw shower with the TDS crowd grasping at them.

 

This is getting so tiresome. There are bridges that need to be rebuilt, a border than needs to be closed and homeless folks ruining Democratic party governed cities. Time to focus on important stuff.

I don’t know.... governmental corruption and wrong doing seems important to me.... besides which, I’m sure that congress can multi task

 

trump needs to be vindicated if y’all are to have any chance at rebuilding bridges.... to do that, transparency is needed... without that, a lame duck administration is what y’all will have

[bumofdabeach]

The AG is using his discretion.... and colluding with White House lawyers in determining redactions. From my perspective, what would satisfy, is releasing the document to the proper oversight committees..... if you don’t trust the nation’s law makers, then you need new lawmakers. 
 
You remember that wee old scrap of paper called the constitution... it charges congress with oversight.... if not new lawmakers, then perhaps a new constitution, more in line with swamp life, is needed

This particular AG has a history which is less than shiney. Under papa Bush he lied about the attempt to allow the FBI to arrest Noriega outside the United States saying it didn't violate international law in his 'summary' to Congress but when released 3 years later the actual report noted 4 international laws it would violate. He also advised papa to pardon the crew charged in the iran/contra fiasco.

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[bumofdabeach]

The AG is using his discretion.... and colluding with White House lawyers in determining redactions. From my perspective, what would satisfy, is releasing the document to the proper oversight committees..... if you don’t trust the nation’s law makers, then you need new lawmakers. 
 
You remember that wee old scrap of paper called the constitution... it charges congress with oversight.... if not new lawmakers, then perhaps a new constitution, more in line with swamp life, is needed

Mueller and his team prepared summaries designed to be released to the public that were not classified nor pertaining to ongoing investigations. Yet Barrs discretion seems to be somewhat different. Let's put Mueller under oath in front of Congress in a public hearing and let him speak for the first time. Otherwise one of his prosecutors could leak a copy of said summery

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[bumofdabeach]

transparency, like releasing all the FOIA requests that the State dept and DOJ have refused ?
 
3 years of media hyped unfounded accusations and claims fueled by the DNC machine, where's the transparency in that?

Sounds to me like you could say the same about the Benghazi hearings. 3 years and nothing to show for it but at least Hillary showed up to testify unlike Cheetolini

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[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, farcanell said:

Transparency in releasing the report to lawmakers..... and until then, calling the accusations and claims “unfounded” is unfounded

 

if you can’t release a report to lawmakers, how can lawmakers do their job?

 

if you can’t release reports to oversight committees , in charge of governmental oversight, how can those charged with oversight, do their job?

 

why is the GOP so worried about transparency? Fully democratic countries rely on transparency.... or at least on more transparency than seems to be required by the partial democracy that is the US state.... are the US people’s so afraid of democracy and the benefits of democracy?

Since when do American lawmakers ( or any countries lawmakers for that matter ) do their job, which is to make their citizens lives better?

All the US lawmakers do nowadays is fight over which can say the worst things about Trump.

 

Unless the report was illegally tampered with, this OP is a another nothingburger. If it was tampered with, does anyone think Mueller will not say anything? 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, bumofdabeach said:

Sounds to me like you could say the same about the Benghazi hearings. 3 years and nothing to show for it but at least Hillary showed up to testify unlike Cheetolini

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Would you please use a normal size font. Not all of us can read microscopic.

[bumofdabeach]

Looks normal to me. Not sure how to change it

Would you please use a normal size font. Not all of us can read microscopic.

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[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, bumofdabeach said:

Looks normal to me. Not sure how to change it

 

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Looks normal to me now too. Thanks.

[bumofdabeach]

I didn't do anything different

Looks normal to me now too. Thanks.

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